


Life For The Living

by MsGordo_Writings



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Future Fic, Original Slayer - Freeform, Resurrection, ressurection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:35:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22487209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsGordo_Writings/pseuds/MsGordo_Writings
Summary: Three hundred years in the future and the earth is overrun with demons.  Mankind has been hunted almost to extinction and the power of the Slayer has been trapped in the body of the current Chosen One.  The Watchers Council has been destroyed, it’s wisdom lost, and when the current Slayer dies so does the line. A small percentage of the humans fight on, aided by two familiar figures but when things become even more desperate a decision is made that will finally give mankind hope.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are the writings of [ MsGordo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kipplemine/profile), posted here with the author's express permission in order to preserve them from Yahoo Groups. If I have missed any tags or warnings, please feel free to let me know.

Title: Life For The Living

Author: Karen   
Email: Karen@klewis91.fsnet.co.uk   
URL:   
Rating: R, for language and violence   
Disclaimer: The characters are nothing to do with me; sadly the mess they find themselves in is all mine.    
Distribution: Batpack Archive, Creative Juices. Anyone else, ask and it’s yours   
Pairing: Eventually A/C, B/S, G/W, D/C, X/?   
Summary: Three hundred years in the future and the earth is overrun with demons. Mankind has been hunted almost to extinction and the power of the Slayer has been trapped in the body of the current Chosen One. The Watchers Council has been destroyed, it’s wisdom lost, and when the current Slayer dies so does the line. A small percentage of the humans fight on, aided by two familiar figures but when things become even more desperate a decision is made that will finally give mankind hope.   
Author Notes: This fic has been loitering on my PC for months and now that I’ve finally started to near the end of my other three ongoing sagas I’d like to get people’s opinions on this one. Like it, hate it, seen it all before, let me know. Any f/b would be gratefully received.

  
  
  
  


**Life for the Living.**

**Prologue.**

The Slayer stared at the two vampires before her and slowly the last of her fight drained away she sank to her knees and her head bowed as she finally accepted the inevitable. Her shoulders rounded as she felt the weight of her failure slowly crush her and her heart broke with an almost audible snap as she silently began to cry. Her Watcher was dead and there were no other humans within thirty miles and even if there were it would do no good, she had failed and now she was to die. Alone and the last of her line and humanity’s last line of defence against the demons and the dark she sobbed out her anger and fear as her useless broken arms dangled at her side. 

Her face was torn into ribbons of red and purple after ten straight hours of fighting and the black hair on the left hand side of her head had been completely ripped away. She raised her head as a pair of shoes came to a halt almost under her nose and stared through pain blurred eyes at the vampire as he raised his arm and the sharp sword at the end of it flashed in the moonlight. It began its downward motion froze and then fell suddenly from the air as the demon holding it turned to dust. The Slayer turned her head and watched as the other vampire went down as another form crashed into it and then there was a brief scream and another small vortex of dust rose into the air. 

She fell forward and then gentle hands were at her shoulders holding her up and a rough voice said 

‘Hold on pet. We’ll get you out of here.’ 

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was a bright ring of white hair around a shadowed face like a beacon from heaven. 

She was the Slayer, it was the year 2367 and she was fourteen years old.

  
  


**Chapter One.**

**Two weeks later.**

  
  


“Hold still this is going to hurt.” 

The girl tensed as the dressings on her face were gently wetted and then peeled away from her face leaving her skin raw and exposed and the light searing her unprotected eyes. She blinked as her eyes slowly became adjusted to the unfamiliar brightness and then reached cautiously to touch her face where the air played over her still raw wounds. 

A gentle hand closed over her wrist and pushed it away 

“Leave it. The skin will be very tender until it’s been exposed to air for a while.”

She tensed and the unknown figure sensing her uneasiness let go of her wrist and moved away. Slowly she became able to distinguish shapes and shadows and finally was able to see the face of one of her carers of the past two weeks. 

A big man with short dark hair and the gentlest eyes she had ever seen in her too short life stared back at her. He smiled and leaned back against the wall crossing powerful arms as he did so 

“We thought you wouldn’t make it for a while.” 

He cocked his head to one side and studied her for a moment 

“We couldn’t take you to a medical centre or to anyone with any kind of formal training in case we got spotted. Even with the slayer healing it looked bad for a while but between us we had enough triage experience to patch you up and keep you going while your power kicked in.”

The girl frowned and tried to speak but her throat was dry from the weeks of disuse. She looked to her left as the man gestured and saw a glass of iced water beside her and gratefully downed it in three short gulps. She coughed and then said in a hoarse whisper 

“You’re dead.”

The man inclined his head in acknowledgement 

“I know.”

“Why did you heal me? You aren’t my kind. You should have killed me.”

A grin came to his handsome face and was quickly smothered as he said carefully 

“Well the fact is I’m not their kind either. I’m one of a kind you might say. Unique in fact.”

He turned his head as a loud laugh came from the door beside him and a second man entered the room bearing a loaded tray and another large jug of water. He winked at the young girl on the bed and carelessly plunked the heavy tray on her legs ignoring her hiss of fear. 

“Bloody great idiot is what you are mate. Still mincing around like the second coming after all these years.” 

He threw himself into a chair beside the bed and waved at the girl 

“Eat up luv, good food ain’t cheap you know and you need all the fattening up you can get.” 

He looked her over from head to foot disapprovingly and shook his head at the frailness of her young body.

The girl stared at him trying to ignore the food arranged on the plate before her but finally the tantalising smell of expertly prepared meat kicked in and she picked up the steak whole from the plate and began to gnaw on it. She opened her mouth and spoke around the half chewed meat 

“You’re dead as well.”

“Well spotted.”

“Are you different too?”

The man before her raised one dark, scarred eyebrow 

“Luv, I  _ am _ the original definition of different.” 

He flicked his head in the direction of his companion 

“Peaches there is on a chosen one kick, all smitey and justice for all. I just like the blood and fights.” 

The girl stared at him her gaze travelling over him from head to toe taking in the short, bleached hair to the black army boots of the end of his long slim legs. He wasn’t as well built as the other man but his lean body held an air of obvious danger and potent power that the other did not have. Of the two he sent her Slayer senses tingling more. She swallowed and took another bite of the steak its juices flowing over her hand 

“Why did you help me?”

The bigger man pushed away from the wall and came to stand behind his companion resting one hand lightly on the chair back 

“You were going to be killed. Didn’t you want saving?”

She glanced down for a moment and then met his gaze steadily

“It would have been over.” 

The word  _ finally  _ hung in the air between them unspoken for a moment and the blonde man leaned forward to place a soft cloth on her hands to catch the juice that still flowed from the meat. He ignored her instinctive flinching as his cool skin brushed her warm, vital wrist and instead said casually 

“The name’s Spike and the big girl behind me is Angel. What do they call you?”

She frowned in confusion.

“I’m The Slayer.”

Spike rolled his eyes in annoyance 

“Well  _ duh _ to quote many an irritating teen. We know  _ what  _ you are we want to know  _ who  _ you are.” He watched the face before him clouded with genuine confusion as the girl tried to understand the question. “What’s your  _ name _ pet?”

Her light brown eyes crinkled at the edges as she screwed up her face in irritation. “Slayer. That’s what I am called. It’s who I am.”

Spike leaned back in his chair and glanced up at Angel helplessly who in turn stared back at him in bafflement. Spike shook his head and turned to look at the girl again “Your parents called you Slayer did they?”

She frowned again wincing at the brief flare of pain the movement caused her newly healed skin “What are parents?”

Both men stared at her speechlessly for a moment and then the big man, Angel, said quietly “The person who raised you what did they call you?” His eyes narrowed speculatively “What did you call them?”

The girl shrugged and turned her attention to a mound of mashed potato and began to shovel it in to her mouth barely pausing to swallow between bites “My Watcher trained me. He was Sir.” She glanced up at the two men “Is that what a parent is?”

“Um….kind of.” 

Angel swallowed unnecessarily and looked nervously at the girl before him as she went back to swallowing as much food as she could in the shortest time possible. When he and Spike had set out to find the current Slayer to aid her in the final battle of the long dark war he had expected a different kind of Slayer than those he had known before. The Watcher’s Council had been more proactive in the training and location of prospective Slayers ever since the days of Buffy and Faith and the complete loss of control they suffered over the two Slayers. He expected to find a young woman battle hardened and experienced with some street smarts and a healthy portion of self-preservation. His observations over the last two weeks had led him to believe that the young girl was little better than an automaton.

She had been very ill, admittedly, but he couldn’t have imagined Buffy, Faith or any of the early millennium Slayers laying back quietly for two weeks allowing themselves to be cared for by two vampires. At the first opportunity they would have been up and looking for a way out regardless of the good treatment they may have received. He winced as she ran her index finger over the emptied plate to mop up excess gravy and popped it in her mouth. From the looks of things she had little or no upbringing or training other than in how to be a Slayer and they needed more than that. They needed a warrior and leader, not cannon fodder.

Spike leaned forward and took the tray from her legs “You might want to go and get freshened up a bit luv. The bathroom is down the corridor on your left and I left some clean clothes and towels out.” He stood and passed the tray to Angel and helped her out of the bed ignoring once again the instinctive stiffening of her body “When you come out call us and we’ll help you apply some salve to your face.” He gave her a gentle push towards the door “Go on now.”

The girl looked at them both for a moment and then turned and walked slowly out the door. Both men waited until they heard the bathroom door shut and the water in the shower start to run and then looked wordlessly at each other for a moment. Angel broke the silence “We may have a problem.”

Spike gave a short harsh laugh “You think?” He dragged a hand through his hair and swore under his breath before saying harshly “She’s a fucking robot mate. There’s nothing there but a willingness to follow orders and that’s so ingrained she’ll obey two vamps without question.”

“We saved her life and brought her to safety.” Angel spoke mildly and without inflection but couldn’t disguise the worry in his eyes.

“Yes we did. And for all she knows we could be fattening her up for a right royal feasting with our vampy chums.” Spike paced around the room a hand slapping impatiently against his thigh “Aside from a little wariness she doesn’t seem to have the imagination to consider that we might have something else in mind for her other than playing vamp happy families.”

“She’s a child.”

“She’s a  _ Slayer _ mate. They don’t get to be kids. Especially not now.” Spike shut his eyes briefly and a small blonde form appeared against his eyelids “Can you imagine  _ her _ accepting all this so easily?”

Angel allowed an image to form in his own mind and gave a soft smile in remembrance “No. Never her.”

Spike opened his eyes and the two stared at each other for a moment and then both broke into a grin “She would have been up and out of that bed in two seconds flat, delirious or not, and pummelling the both of us into kibble and you know it.”

Angel gave a small laugh and allowed himself for a moment to think of happier days “Oh yeah, she was never one for the subtle approach when kicking the crap out of you worked just as well and quicker.”

Spike joined him as they sauntered down leafy memory lane “Always assuming that we’d have kept her for more than a day. The Watcher and the whelp would have played back up and the witches would have been hexing us left, right and centre with the demon backing  _ them  _ up and Dawn throwing everything she had at us and then some.”

Angel shook his head “They were a force alright.” He listened carefully and then satisfied the girl was still in the shower turned to his partner of some two hundred years “We can’t win this with her and her alone.” He stared at his feet for a minute and then said quietly “We’d have been better to let her die.”

Spike looked at him his eyes ice blue and serious “I know.”

  
  


They had been fighting for humanity for over two hundred years as the legions of hell and the demon dimensions had finally begun to claim back the earth. In the twenty second century the old ways had been nearly lost and the people of the earth had only the new technologies and weapons of their governments to aid them. They had fallen in their millions unable to comprehend the sheer scale of the forces overwhelming them and pitifully unable to defend themselves against powers and magic that drew power from the very dawn of their planet’s history. A few had stood against them and had succeeded in the prevention of the total overwhelming of the humans but they were few and their numbers were almost gone. The Watcher’s council had been destroyed only fifty years before with only a handful of men and women escaping to find and train the Slayers. Angel and Spike had tried to aid them but had given up after the third Watcher they had approached had flung the last of his blessed water at them and tried to curse them for all eternity. Frightened fools and weak blinkered men had run the Council and as such the telling of Angel, and to some extent Spike’s, invaluable aid in saving the world time and time again had been lost and their names were no longer known to the overwhelmed forces of good.

They fought in their own way and as such had made a difference in some lives. Their greatest triumph had been the freeing of over three thousand humans from a holding camp where they had been kept as food for the vampires of what had been San Diego. Even Spike had been deeply affected by the cowed and frightened humans that had been penned ten to a six by six room left in their own filth by their captors and only taken out to be bled and turned over to the flesh eating demons. The worst had been the ‘nursery’ where children had been kept chained to the wall as an all you can eat buffet and the breeding area where women were kept chained to the beds and forced to endure pregnancies to supply more blood and bodies. 

They had torn apart any guard or demon they could find and then when the captives had been sent running out into the night had torched the place standing side by side as the demons they had locked in to the cells they had guarded for so long, screamed as they burned. It had taken two weeks to find a safe place for the people of the camp to settle but eventually working with a resistance group all the people who had survived had been taken to a small corner of Texas near the Mexican border and settled there with people who welcomed the sight of more human faces. 

Spike and Angel had waited another week and then, still working with the resistance group, had taken San Diego back in one bloody night in which half the city had been blown to the sky and the other half had barely been left standing. The vampire masters who had run the city were staked onto the bridge, covered in holy water and crosses and then left for the sun when it rose over the horizon. One hundred years later that night was still remembered with hope and awe by remaining human kind and fear and terror by the demons and everyone was just a little more careful for a few years after in case the two warriors and their army came back and set about cleansing them of  _ their _ sins.

They had come to this Slayer because a rumour had reached them that something had gone wrong with the power of the Chosen One. It was no longer eternal and, very worryingly, would die when the present bearer of the power did. They had lit out for the girl as soon as they learned the information and had arrived just in time to save her from the remnants of the demon army that had also learned of the rumour and had set out to see if it was true.

  
  


Spike leaned against the wall and rolled his eyes “We are so screwed.” 

Angel began to pace around the room scowling into space as he thought furiously. The girl could obviously fight but in no way could he present her to the united heads of the human nations and show them their leader and hope of all mankind that he had touted the Slayer as being. He had prepared them for her sex and also for her tender years but not for the mindless obedience that had been instilled in her from birth. He glanced at Spike and saw the same frustration mirrored in the other vampire’s face. All their hopes gone in one fell swoop and so the ruination of mankind was another step closer.

  
  


End Part 1.


	2. Chapter 2

Life for the Living.

  
  


Angel and Spike fought, as always, back to back and with a desperate savagery that left their opponents unable to stand against their fury and hatred. They were aware of their comrades in arms falling all around them but the ability to feel pain at the passing of their brother soldiers had been scorched from them long ago in the heat of long lost battles. 

Spike swung his crude weapon at the savage creature in front of him and barely registered the head coming away from the neck before he moved onto his next opponent. He stood nearly a head shorter than his companion and was as blonde as his friend was dark. Where Angel was muscular he was whipcord thin and without a spare inch of flesh on his body. He hissed in pain as he caught a shot to his arm and realised that he had maybe thirty seconds before his supplies of adrenaline wore out and his arm realised that the muscle had been sliced for the third time that year.

“We need to move!”

It was a testament to their long years of fighting side by side that Angel asked no questions but instead increased his attack on the enemy with his own weapon and managed to cut a swathe through the beasts that allowed the men to run hell for leather for their transport, an extremely old and beaten military helicopter. They made it just as the blades began to turn and threw themselves through the open doors behind the white-faced newbies that provided covering fire for the tattered remnants of their platoon. Two more men and a woman managed to climb aboard before the machine lifted into flight and the enraged enemy overtook one man as he scrambled desperately for safety and went down screaming for his comrades. Spike stared down and even though they were fifty feet above when the man’s head was torn from his body he could have sworn he heard the crack echo as loud as any gunfire.

He flinched and pulled his head back in, ignoring one of the rookies throwing up his rations out of the door and stared at Angel for a moment “Well that could have gone better.”

Angel let his gaze drift around the suddenly spacious interior of the aircraft that an hour ago had been crammed with thirty soldiers and raised his eyebrows “You think?”

Back at their temporary base they paused long enough to have Spike’s arm stitched and to make sure that their team received all necessary medical care and had received their rations before they headed down to HQ, currently an old chicken shed at the end of a short overgrown farm trail.

They walked into the shed breathing as always through their mouths in a bid to avoid the stench of long dead fowl and too many panicking humans in one space. The soldier on guard at the door nodded at them both as they passed through the ancient DNA scanner and were bathed in the glow of the green go light. They nodded back and without breaking stride made for a wooden partition at the back of the small cramped room acknowledging greetings from the office personnel as they did so. 

Angel slammed his fist twice against the wall without stopping, his version of a polite knock, and rounded the partition to come face to face with the commander in chief of the human resistance, Spike followed two steps behind his colleague and with a small brusque nod at his commander fell gratefully onto a wooden crate placed before the man’s desk to serve as a chair. The pain from his arm was beginning to really burn now and he found he was having difficulty in staying focused and lucid, he needed sleep, food and a holiday in that order. Unfortunately his chances of achieving any of those things in the next two hours were slightly less than his coming into a great deal of money and relocating to Mars so he contented himself with finding the most comfortable part of the crates where there was the least chance of him getting splinters. 

“We don’t have a choice.”

Angel turned his head and his tortured eyes stared into the fierce ice blue gaze of his partner, Spike stared back at him for a moment and then turned his head to stare down at the seven slides once again.

“We have to bring them back.”

The flat tone of his voice belayed the maelstrom of emotions that churned inside him but as always he, far better than Angel ever could, was able to push his feelings aside and do what needed to be done for the greater good. He remembered reading of Lady Macbeth in school and her slow descent into madness as she tried to rid herself of the blood on her hands and often thought that he would end up the same way. The blood on his hands would stain him until the day he died adrift in his own guilt and rage at the things he had been forced to do. 

The children from the previous week screamed in his mind as he fought for control. He saw again their faces as they lay screaming in the lab. Born and bred in a nameless compound for the delectation of their alien masters never having lived a normal life they were twisted and perverted mockeries of the few remaining naturally born children. He had found them and walked among them staring at children as young as a few months old kept alive by science with flesh torn out of them in casual bites and their sexual organs used and torn by repeated rapes and abuse. He had stayed for almost an hour and had taken two hundred and twenty three innocent lives so that they could be free of their flesh and concrete prisons, finally be free.

Tonight they would watch as the preliminary steps were taken in bringing their comrades back from the dead and their new bodies were grown in test tubes and Petrie dishes. Tonight the fight for their lives would finally turn in their favour and their humanity would die forever.

Two nights later they cast a sacred circle under a clear half moon sky and prepared themselves to go knocking at heaven’s door. As soon as the scientists had come to them and informed them they were sure the process of growing the bodies would work the two vampires had gathered together the ingredients for their spell and prepared to talk for the first time in over three hundred years to their friends. The lab was on hold until they received word from Angel or Spike they had permission to proceed and all that remained was to channel their energies towards the heavenly dimension that their people now resided in.

Spike looked Angel in the eyes and nodded grimly and together they sank onto the cool grass kneeling face to face. Angel reached for the bottle of blessed water and holding it carefully poured it gently onto the ground between them being careful not to slash. When he had finished he placed the bottle outside of the circle and then the two vampires clasped hands and recited in deep voices

“Hear our plea Keepers of the Light and Good,

Grant us the sight and sound of companions dead in the service of the Light.

Hear our plea Guardians of the Slayer and Warriors of the Light.

Let those Keepers of the Good come forward when called.

Hear our plea and let them know of the need of their people.”

Angel renewed his grip on Spike’s hands and then threw back his head and shouted at the night sky.

“Come forth Buffy the Slayer and answer my call.”

Spike stared into Angel’s eyes as the scent of vanilla wafted into the circle and then an achingly familiar voice spoke softly

“ _ Who calls the Slayer _ ?”

Spike gripped Angel’s hands so tightly he felt a bone break under his hand; Angel flinched but managed not to cry out instead he spoke in a low voice

“Welcome Slayer, champion of mankind. Angel calls to you on behalf of your people.”

There was a slight pause and then

“ _ Angel _ ?”

“Yes Slayer.”

“ _ Angel the souled one calls me from my rest _ ?”

“Yes. Your people need you again Slayer.”

“ _ The people of mankind have a Chosen One for their champion they no longer have need of me.” _

“The Chosen One is young and cannot hold back the darkness. The forces of the Shadows have spelled her and when her life ends so does the power of the Slayers.”

“ _ Nonetheless there is only one chosen in each generation I cannot aid you.” _

Angel stared into Spike’s eyes and saw the hope fade from them slowly. He knew his face mirrored the despair on his friends and slowly his shoulders fell in defeat. Spike stared at the ground for a moment and then stared at Angel and slowly opened his mouth.

“Slayer.”

“ _ Who calls me now?” _

“Spike. William the Bloody calls you.”

There was another slight pause and then the voice came again

“ _ Spike?” _

The blonde vampire nodded to himself as though he had just had a question answered and then spoke

“Who speaks within the circle?”

“ _ The Slayer _ .”

“I know the Slayer speaks but which one?”

“ _ There is only one. I am the Slayer _ .”

Angel stared across their joined hands at Spike and felt a stirring of hope within him again. He watched as Spike continued

“Slayer we called for Buffy the Slayer. The invitation was for her alone no others. We must speak to her.”

“ _ The Slayer is here _ .”

“But not Buffy. We must speak with the Slayer known as Buffy.”

“ _ That essence is here _ .”

Spike snorted

“No offence love but essence just ain’t gonna cut it. I demand to speak to the individual known as Buffy.”

“ _ It cannot be done. I am the Slayer _ .”

Spike grinned suddenly into the night and when he spoke again his voice held light amusement

“Buffy if you’re there are you gonna sit back and let that go? Come on you spent years whining on about how you were more than the Slayer and how you were a person as well. Cannot be done? Love you and me both know the impossible happens all the time. Come out and play.”

A silence fell and stretched until Angel was sure that the spirit of the Slayer was so offended by Spike’s speech it had packed it’s little ghost bag and stomped off back to heaven and just when he was going to suggest closing the spell and heading back. . . 

“ _ Spike? Is that really you _ ?”

“Buffy. About damn time.”

The roughness of his greeting and his voice managed to disguise the overwhelming emotions at speaking to the love of his life.

“ _ Well excuse me for being tardy Mr Pain in my eternal ass but I have been kinda occupied with being dead you know?” _

Spike grinned at the testy tone of voice, now  _ that _ was his Buffy.

“Still got the cutting comments at the ready Buff.”

The voice when it sounded again was ripe with amusement

“ _ What can I say some things never change. So what’s up _ ?”

Angel stared into Spikes eyes and suddenly felt the enormity of the request they were about to ask. Both vampires stared silently at each other unwilling to put the request into words.

“ _ Hello? Can we move this along? Places to go, eternal sleep to catch up on you know? Plus the rest of the Slayers not that happy I’ve sliced off from the group bonding thing.” _

Angel managed to find his voice

“Buffy.”

“ _ Angel? Is that you _ ?”

The delighted surprise in her voice made the souled vampire smile warmly

“It’s me.”

“ _ Well it’s a regular old school reunion out there huh? Who else is there? Will? Xan?” _

“No they’re not here.”

“ _ Oh.” _

The disappointment in her voice was nearly enough to break Spike’s heart and as such his next words were harsh 

“For Christ sakes Slayer do you really think we’d go to all this trouble just for a natter about old times? We need your help.”

“ _ Bite me Spike. Oh no, that’s right you can’t! What with me being dead and all. Oh well I guess I’ll just be moseying along now. Bye guys it’s been fun _ !”

“No wait!”

Spike spoke and in the two short words poured all the longing and desperation of the last few centuries.

“Buffy please don’t go.”

Angel frowned at the sheer emotion in his friend’s voice but stayed silent as Spike stared into the night sky

“Buffy please.”

A gentle breeze moved over them like a sigh and then Buffy said in a low voice

“ _ Talk fast I don’t have much time.” _

Spike stared at Angel pleadingly obviously terrified to open his mouth and say the wrong thing. Angel nodded and spoke

“Buffy the demons have overrun earth and have found a way to block the power of the Slayers. The current Chosen One is a child and too overwhelmed to fight. When she dies so does the Slayer line. We found a way to bring you back as a Slayer but it has to be your choice. What you faced when you were on this plane of existence is nothing to what is happening now and the forces of mankind are overrun and aren’t equipped to deal with the threat.”

He paused and looked at the ground for a moment and then stared into the sky again as though he was staring into the eyes of Buffy herself

“Mankind has never needed you more. The Chosen One has no idea of what being a Slayer means and there is no one left to teach her. Help us.”

There was silence for a long time and then Buffy’s voice came low and hesitant

“ _ I don’t know whether it’s even possible. I don’t know whether I can. When I was chosen I wasn’t given a choice and I had no knowledge of what being a Slayer would mean. Now I do and I don’t know whether I can choose to do that again _ .  _ Where I am now is where I should be. I was a small part of something huge and I didn’t get that till I left that reality and this was like coming home. I don’t know whether I can leave that.” _

Angel bowed his head again and nodded and Spike felt his eyes fill with tears as he realised that Buffy was slipping from him again. All this time he had carried her in his heart and to be so close but so far away threatened to destroy him.

“ _ Gimme a minute here guys. I didn’t say no I just said I had to think about it.” _

Buffy’s voice whipped across them impatiently and the two vampires stared at each other.

“Buffy. . .how. . ?”

Angel couldn’t make himself form the words but fortunately Buffy spoke fluent Angel

_ “Things are becoming clearer. I can almost see you now and I can definitely feel you. I can reach across to you I think. You seem so close.” _

The voice trailed off and Spike flinched as what felt like fingers trailed across his cheek

_ “Ok. Here’s the thing. As much as I hate to admit it I’m intrigued and if the demon dimensions think that after all I did to keep them out they’re getting their hands on my dimension they got another think coming. I’m in.” _

The voice hardened

“ _ Solidify me already and let’s go kick some demon ass.” _

Spike laughed with relief and Angel smiled and then they both jumped as another voice roared

“ **_No!”_ **

Buffy spoke quickly and urgently

“ _ Guys stay quiet and out of this. Spike especially you _ .”

“ **_No you will not leave_ ** .”

Buffy’s voice rang with resolve

“ _ Yes I will. The people need me and I have been called _ .”

“ **_You have been called already your time is done_ ** .”

Buffy gave a quick laugh

“ _ My time is whenever I am needed. I am eternal. I am a Slayer and I will go.” _

“ **_You cannot leave_ ** .”

“ _ Yes I can and I will _ .”

“ **_The choice is not yours to make_ ** .”

A definite snort was heard at that and then Buffy’s voice snapped

“ _ For the first time I can choose. My choice. I choose to defend my people and I choose to do battle once more and if you try to stop me I will kick your ass all over the heavenly plane before I leave.” _

A tense silence fell and then the voice said

“ **_You have been joined with us too long. The power you have cannot be contained within one mortal body any longer. If you leave you will cease to be. You will burn like a star in the heavens and then you will be no more. This cannot be changed.”_ **

Buffy spoke with dry irony

“ _ Angel, any thoughts _ ?”

The souled vampire nodded slowly

“Can the essence be shared amongst the Slayer’s people?”

“ **_We cannot allow the essence of the Light to go into two creatures of the Dark no matter what side they choose to fight on. That is an abomination and cannot be_ ** .”

Angel shook his head impatiently 

“No, not us. We also came here to call the Slayer’s companions to the aid of mankind. If they answer the call will they be worthy of the power?”

In the brief silence the world seemed to hold it’s breath and then

“ **_They must agree to aid without the promise of power. If they will leave their rest to aid the human world against the demon threat with nothing but their own powers they will be worthy of the power of the Slayers.”_ **

Angel nodded

“Agreed.”

“ **_Call on the companions_ ** .”

Angel met Spike’s eyes and nodded and together they spoke

“Companions of the Slayer Buffy hear us,

The Slayer calls those who are true to her calling and loyal to her cause.

Warriors of the light come forward, 

Come to the Slayer that calls you.”

For a moment nothing happened and then the two vampires were overwhelmed with the presence of many essences within the circle. Angel spoke

“Name yourselves companions of the Slayer so that we may know you.”

Six voices rang out clearly into the night sky

“Spirit.”

“Mind.”

“Heart.” 

“Conscience.”

“Anchor”

“Seer.”

Angel felt a sudden pounding in his chest where his heart should be when he recognised the last voice. Cordelia! He opened his mouth soundlessly a few times and then finally found the words he needed

“Companions of the Slayer you are needed. The world calls Buffy the Slayer once again and she needs her loyal companions to aid her in her darkest hour. The world will be destroyed without her and she needs warriors to help her in her fight. Will you leave your rest and come to her aid?”

The vampires tensed once more as they waited for the replies and then. . .

“Heart agrees.”

“Mind agrees”

“Spirit agrees”

“Conscience agrees.”

“Anchor agrees”

“Seer agrees.”

Spike opened his mouth and said in a low voice 

“We can’t just speak to their essences we need to speak to their souls. Release the individuals and let them speak.”

“ **_You would speak of choice when you gave so little to so many vampire_ ** ?”

Spike snarled and then snapped in a furious tone

“Yes I would. These people will be fighting alongside me and they need to know what they’re getting in to and I demand to know that they understand that.”

He bit down on his tongue and swallowed the rest of his angry words and waited and then like cool strawberry juice a voice flowed into the silence

“ _ Spike?” _

The blonde vampire grinned

“Red is that you?”

“ _ Spike, Oh my God I can’t believe it’s you _ !”

Spike laughed and said warmly

“In the flesh Red. How are you?”

Before Willow could reply another voice spoke

“ _ Jeez what’s a guy gotta do to get some peace around here? Spike are you still playing with stuff you shouldn’t?” _

Spike growled but still grinned as he said

“Whelp? I might have known you’d be tagging along as usual. This here meeting's for people who actually count. Feel free to sod off any time.”

Xander laughed and the sound widened the grin on Spike’s face even more. Angel interrupted with a frown at Spike

“We don’t have much time, we…”

He trailed off as Xander interrupted him

“ _ Deadboy? Is that you? Hot diggotty it’s a family reunion _ !”

Angel allowed a small smile to cross his face at the sound of the once hated nickname

“Look who’s talking Xander.”

“ _ Good point _ .”

“ _ I hate to draw the pointless small talk to a premature close but perhaps someone might want to explain what’s going on shortly _ ?”

Spike laughed again at the sound of the familiar English accent

“Giles! Good to hear you mate! And you still have that pesky poker up your arse I gather?”

Angel smothered a laugh as the circle suddenly swam with irritation

“ _ Spike as delightful as it is to hear your voice again perhaps you can desist from insulting me for a short time and explain our calling?” _

Angel managed to beat Spike to opening his mouth by a split second and answered instead

“Giles we called you because we need you to help Buffy again. The demon dimensions have finally managed to overrun the earth and the Slayer power is trapped within the current Chosen one. When she dies so does the power. We’ve called Buffy to fight again and she needs her companions to help her fight. We want your permission to bring you back.”

Silence greeted his words and then a new voice was heard

“ _ Angel _ ?”

Spike watched with interest as Angel’s face went carefully blank and then the older vampire spoke

“Cordelia.”

The emotion in the one word was enough to shimmer round the circle almost visibly and Spike watched with interest as Angel’s eyes went opaque with feeling as Cordelia spoke again

“ _ Angel you can’t bring us back. There’s nothing left to come back to _ .”

Angel blinked and then said huskily

“A lot of time’s past Cordy. Science has progressed. We have homes for your spirits we just need you to agree.”

“ _ As we were before _ ?”

“Yes.”

In the silence that followed Angel knew that they were both thinking of the visions that had plagued her during her life and knew that with the increase in suffering in the world since her death they would increase tenfold. Cordelia spoke again 

“ _ Ok.” _

As though they were waiting for someone else to begin the circle filled with voices all stating their consent to their resurrections. 

Angel blinked back sudden tears at the selflessness of the Slayers friends and then he stiffened as the Slayer essence spoke again

“ **_So be it. They will be returned to the mortal plane but only these seven and you will not request anything of us again.”_ **

Angel nodded.

“Agreed.”

“ **_The Power must be freed. If the current chosen one dies we will be no more and these seven will fade. We can aid you no further.”_ **

“I understand. We will free the power and the Slayers.”

The sense of pressure lifted as the essence left the circle and then Buffy spoke for the first time since her friends had answered the vampire’s call

_ “So what do we do now _ ?”

Spike answered her in a voice gruff with excitement and emotion

“Now we put you on ice until we need you and then we call you down to your bodies.” He paused “And then we fight.”

A week later and Angel and Spike stood in amazement in the lab as one by one the restored bodies of their comrades shimmered behind their glass walls. Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, Wesley and Dawn. Spike swallowed needlessly as he stared at the face of his love and worked hard at keeping his face blank. She lay with her eyes closed and her blonde hair closely cropped to her head but she was unmistakeably his Buffy and he fought against the feeling that she would open her eyes any minute. There was one more thing to do before the cloned bodies could be eased from the support of the lab and they had commandeered the use of the laboratory to cast the spell.

Angel was still uneasy with the ramifications of two vampires pretty much banging on the door of heaven and demanding to speak to some of it’s occupants but knew it was the only way to get back the true essences of their friends rather than poor imitations when the clones were allowed to regain consciousness. He stared at the people in the glass cases and determinedly stayed away form the word coffins. He flicked a glance at Spike and saw the other vampire was as tense with emotion as himself, Spike felt Angel’s gaze upon him and fixed his ice blue gaze on the concerned chocolate eyes.

“Too late for second thoughts peaches. It’s now or never.”

Angel nodded and reached into his pocket for the slip of paper with the words to the incantation printed on it. He held it so Spike could see and then with a brief nod they chanted in unison

“Champions of Humanity, hear us

Return to the mortal plane and resume your places in the natural order

Take up your arms and your cause once more

And bring the light to the dark and the sun to the shadows

Return. Return. Return.”

Nothing happened for a moment and then a light silver haze began to gather above the bodies lying behind the glass. Slowly the silver mist began to separate and then seven balls of energy drifted down to settle onto the glass lids. One by one the essences passed through the glass and then sank into the bodies leaving behind a faint silver glow and then that too faded and the room was still.

Spike moved without looking at Angel and went to the bank of computers against the wall and without flinching pressed the button that would separate their friends from the life support system their bodies had been attached to for the past three days. The background hum faded and then the two vampires waited in tense silence for the first signs of life. One minute passed and then two and Angel was about to signal Spike to switch the life support back on when Buffy’s eyes snapped open and her back arched as she took her first breath. As though this were a signal the bodies around her came to life just as abruptly and there was a crash of glass as seven lids were pushed forcefully aside to the ground.

Spike stared as Buffy shot out of her protective casing and landed in a crouch on the floor and then stood slowly staring all about her. She blinked and whirled as the sounds of six pairs of feet slamming into the floor came from behind her and then just stared at the newly young faces of her family stared back at her. Slowly a grin spread across her face and she held out a hand to the beloved faces

“Hi guys.”


	3. Chapter 3

One hour later and the seven were seated around what passed for a living area in the laboratory offices and Angel was swinging wildly between elation and sorrow that his friends were once again with him. After the first confusing minutes of new life were over and the friends had wept and hugged each other a silence had fallen over the group as they had changed into the coveralls that the human resistance had adopted as their uniform. Buffy had kept one hand in Dawn’s and one in Willow’s as she had passed through the doors of the laboratory and had met the curious looks from the scientists and their personnel with level eyes and a firm set to her chin. She was well aware that as the saviour of mankind she lacked a certain something in the mighty warrior muscle department but the slightly incredulous looks she received from the personnel was wounding to say the least. 

Xander sat hunched over the table staring into his mug of slightly bitter hot chocolate trying to get his head around the fact that he was now technically over three hundred years old.

“Three hundred? I mean I know it had been a while but three hundred years?”

Spike rolled his eyes 

“Look whelp I know this is a difficult concept to understand but time didn’t actually stop the day you went into the ground. The world kept moving, deal with it.”

“Yeah, but three hundred years! That’s like. . . oh man. Three hundred years.”

Willow leaned across and patted her oldest friends hand

“Look at it this way Xander you might get the chance to do some exploring of the universe when we sort out Angel’s little problem. You know Babylon 5 style or Picard your way across the known galaxy. Kinda cool huh?” 

Xander’s face lit up as he met her eyes

“You think. Hey that would be cool! Can I do that?”

Angel found himself staring into a hopeful pair of black eyes and gave a small grin. On of the only likeable things about Xander back in the day had been his innocence and hope that everything would turn out ok in the end and he was somewhat reassured to know that that important part of the man’s personality had made it through.

“Sorry Xander the space program was abandoned a few years after the demons took over. Man hasn’t set foot on the moon for centuries.”

“Well that sucks.”

Xander pouted and sat back in his chair supremely unimpressed with the state of affairs on the mortal plane. Willow giggled and rubbed his arm consolingly

“Never mind Xan maybe you can become the new Zephron Cochrane and lead us boldly where no man has gone before.”

She smiled as her friend perked up and then switched her serious gaze back to Angel

“I know you want to get started on filling us in on the sitch but can you take a few moments to tell us what happened to our families? I know they’re dead but I really wanna know what happened and also we seem to be a few Scooby’s short. Where’s the rest of the gang?”

Spike looked up as Angel answered Willow gravely

“Of course you want to know about your descendants but I’m not the one to ask. Spike is.”

A hiss of surprised breath ran around the table and Spike knew in that minute if he had any blood pressure he would have been scarlet under their combined gazes.

His voice came out sullen and a bit harsh

“Well don’t look so bloody surprised! After all those years saving your miserable arses I had a vested interest in keeping an eye on your kids on the off chance this damn chip stopped working and I could finally kill the lot of you.”

He met Buffy’s eyes across the table and felt Dawn’s hand slide into his and gently squeeze. He closed his eyes briefly and gave a silent groan he obviously fooled no one.

“Fine. When Anya died a few years after you Xander I kept an eye on your Tom and Rachel and they both married. Tom moved to New York and kept in touch and he died at ninety with three children and nine grandchildren. They all lived long and reasonably healthy lives and there are now a grand total of one hundred and sixty Harris’ alive and well in the world that sprung from your Tom. Rachel couldn’t have children and her marriage broke up after a few years, no great loss believe me. She stayed in Sunnyhell all her life and picked up where you left off with the fighting the nasty beasties. We worked together for years and then she took sick and died when she was fifty.”

Spike swallowed and looked down at the scratched surface of the table as he thought of his Rachel. She had been his best friend for thirty years and the loss of her to cancer still cut so many years later. He met Xander’s eyes and smiled grimly

“Never thought I’d say it whelp but she was a Harris to be proud of. I promised her when she died I’d protect the family and I have. I got to all your kids when the fighting started and got them out. They all live down south in a resistance camp. It ain’t much but they’re free and alive.”

Xander swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and stared at the vampire who had been the bane of much of his first life. He knew that Spike hadn’t cared that much for him in the past but the thought of him watching his family grow through the generations and protecting it and caring enough to keep track suddenly made him feel very humble. He gave a warm smile for once without any trace of mockery and said 

“Thank you.”

Spike shrugged at the heart felt words but gave quick embarrassed nod in acknowledgement.

Willow spoke in a tremulous voice

“What about Tara?”

Spike met her eyes as he told her of her beloved daughter

“She lived long and happy Red and she died in my arms when we fought to save some kiddies from a vamp attack. She had a little girl about ten years after you died and I kept her with me when her mum passed on. She called her Willow and I sent her away to England when she was old enough to the watchers. She trained three Slayers and had two daughters and they trained as Watchers and then they left the Council when they realised that they couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery much less a fight against the demon dimensions. They came home to their Uncle Spike and your family has stayed with me ever since. You have ten descendants still living and I know where all of them are. They fight and they work with Xander’s kids to keep the humans safe and they do it all in memory of you.”

Willow’s eyes blurred with tears as she thought of her daughter dying at the hands of vampires and then she too smiled at Spike as the blonde vampire stared at the tabletop

“Thank you Spike.”

He gave another shrug and a noncommittal grunt refusing to meet anybody’s eyes. Angel cleared his throat and stared at the other people around the table

“The others didn’t come when called. When we did the incantation we called for those who allied themselves with the Slayer and her cause. I think so many are missing because their first loyalty was always to someone else rather than to the mission.”

Willow nodded and dashed her tears away

“Makes sense. Anya, Oz and Tara were in it for us. They always fought to keep us alive.”

Xander nodded in agreement 

“We were allies of the Slayer and they were allies of us. Cool huh?”

  
  
  


Buffy stood and watched the soft white clouds scudding peacefully along the backdrop of a blue-black sky. She lifted her head as a gentle breeze flowed over her scented with jasmine and lavender and felt the wonder anew of being reborn. She lifted her hand in front of her face and watched as it clenched into a small fist and the way the muscles in her arm hardened with the motion. She turned as she heard an almost silent footfall and found herself looking into Spike’s blue eyes.

“How are you?”

Buffy smiled at him and lifted her eyes to stare once more at the night sky “Tired, confused and majorly wigged out.”

“It’s a pisser alright.”

Buffy let her eyes drift to his once more and she frowned “Not happy to see me Spike?”

The vampire’s mouth fell open and he seemed to be lost for words for a minute and then he caught the mischievous look on Buffy’s face and gave a small, deep laugh “Slayer I’m always happy to see you.” He made a sweeping gesture with his arm that encompassed the night around them “I meant all this. Not exactly resting in peace now is it?”

Buffy shrugged “You know what they say, a Slayer’s work is never done.”

They both fell silent for a few minutes and relaxed into the night’s embrace Buffy marvelling that her Slayer senses were as sharp as they ever were until finally she spoke “So what’s she like, the new kid?” She felt him shrug beside her and suddenly the memories of a thousand nights in Sunnydale hunting and battling evil were upon her. His voice when it came was deep and husky with his own memories.

“She’s not you.”

Buffy wallowed in the emotions that swelled in her at the sound of longing and loss in his words and then shaking them away she turned and said with a bright smile “Who is?”

Spike forced himself to keep his gaze fixed on the horizon suddenly desperately afraid to meet her eyes and reveal the depth of his feelings at her resurrection. Instead he took a few small steps away from her and when he was sure he stood deeply in the shadows and there was no way she could see his face turned and said “She’s been under council control her whole life and has absolutely no mind of her own.” He flung up his hands in a gesture of frustration and began to pace suddenly needing the motion “Her watcher is dead and she has no idea how to look after herself. We can’t send her back to the council because then we lose the one chance we have to keep the power alive until we can find some way to free the source but we can’t use her ourselves because she has the life expectancy of a chocolate teapot and, to be honest, she has no idea how to fight for a girl that’s been trained her whole life.”

Buffy watched him move with his innate grace and felt her insides clench at the sight of his body shifting in and out of the moonlight like an erotic game of find the penny. She swallowed several times to moisten her suddenly dry mouth “You’ve changed.”

Spike stopped moving and stared at her beloved form shimmering in the night “It’s been nearly three hundred years love. I’m dead not in a coma.”

Buffy smiled “Spike you were never dead. You were always the most alive person I had ever known.” She watched as her flinched and turned from her and instinctively reached out to him only to be stopped by a single pain filled word.

“Don’t.”

“Spike? What is it? What’s wrong?” 

A shudder passed through his rigidly held form and then Buffy was straining to here as he spoke in a hoarse whisper “It’s been nearly three centuries and I thought that I had made you leave, finally I thought you had gone. I used to dream about you every night. For the first hundred years you were always there.” He swung round to look at her “I came to Angel finally because he was the one link I had to you. The only way I could keep sane was to be with someone who loved you as much as I did, missed you as much as I did.” He gave a short bark of bitter laughter “Only the joke was on me wasn’t it? He loved you and he missed you but he wasn’t haunted by you. He didn’t see you everywhere he went and love you every time he closed his eyes.” Another shudder went through him “You were everything to me and loving you was  _ hell. _ ” 

Buffy stared at him lost for words as the carefully shored up emotions of three centuries burst out of him in a torrent and he was just as powerless as she to stop it.

“ I watched you die  _ twice _ and I wanted to die with you but that damn promise kept me bound here just as if you’d nailed my feet to the ground and then when Dawn died it was like losing you all over again.” He flung his hands in the air again “Even then I stayed and I watched Willow and Xander’s children grow and die and  _ every time  _ I lost you all over again.” His lips drew back in a rictus of pain “I came to Angel and I fought by his side night after night and I told myself that it was the only way that I could still feel like a vamp because of this damn chip but it wasn’t. Hundreds of years after your death I was still fighting for your approval and your love. Every night I went out and I battled for humanity for your love.” He turned from her then and his shoulders began to shake “All this time its been for you in the hope that you might finally look down from where ever the hell you were and finally say that I was worthy of you.”

Buffy opened her mouth and then closed it again unsure what to say. The way she had treated Spike had been a source of regret to her in her last years and although she had never been able to say to him 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am aware that the end of this chapter has bits missing. Since I am only posting these works for MsGordo, we will just need to use our imaginations to finish the sentence.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

  
  


Two nights later and the entire gang plus Spike, Angel and Mia were making themselves as obvious and bite worthy as they possibly could. Spike shook his head as he watched the newly young teens stroll leisurely down a suitably dark and misty alley talking and laughing unconcernedly as they went.

“They used to patrol like this all the time. One big bitey lark.” He glanced at Angel who watched with barely concealed enjoyment as the gang jumped around and affectionately teased each other with the ease borne of long practise. “Can you believe they stopped the end of the world more than twelve times?”

Angel grinned at his companion of nearly three centuries “Nope. But I have trouble believing  _ you  _ saved it five times so that just proves how much I know.”

Spike snorted and opened his mouth to reply but snapped it shut as at the end of the alley four vampires appeared he started forward and Angel raised a hand to stop him “No we have to see how they handle it.” 

Buffy and Cordelia were in the lead and when the vamps appeared were the first to spot them “Ooh play time!”

Cordelia rolled her eyes at Buffy’s excited squeal “Could you sound anymore pre-school?”

Buffy grinned at the brunette “Oh like you aren’t jonesing for a good ass kicking.” She flicked a glance at the vampires stalking towards them “By the way that’s your asses not ours.”

The four demons came to a halt four paces from the group of friends and stared in puzzled annoyance at the group of humans that appeared completely unfazed to find themselves facing a bloody and painful death. 

Xander draped his arm around Willow and looked them up and down “This is the big bad? Jeez you die spent a couple of centuries in the ground and the whole face of evil changes. Deadboy junior was scarier when he got chipped.” He shook his head sorrowfully “Guys you really let yourselves go.”

Buffy nodded in agreement and took a couple of paces to the side to view them from a different angle “Giles is going to be crushed. So much for the big scary super demons all that research and we end up facing the twenty third century equivalent of the Gorches.”

The tall black vampire who seemed to be leading the group glared at the small blonde girl who leaned against the alley wall and sniffed disdainfully “My grandmother could dust these guys!”

“Bow and beg for your lives humans.” The low guttural growl was enough to send a small shiver down Mia’s spine but the rest of the Scooby’s exchanged amused glances and then stared back at the small group of vampires who were shifting uneasily painfully aware that something was off but unable to figure out what it was. Willow squeezed Mia’s arm putting aside her own concerns about the young girl’s reaction to the vampires and said brightly “You know if it’s all the same to you we won’t. This place isn’t exactly the cleanest area and we don’t bow to the undead.” She flashed an apologetic grin “Sorry.”

Buffy exchanged a grin with Cordelia and then pushed away from the wall and stood shoulder to shoulder with her old friend.

“First one to dust two buys the munchies after.”

“You’re on. Try not to get in my way too much Slaygal.”

Xander stepped forward and rested a hand lightly on each of the girl’s shoulders.

“Hey share the wealth ladies. No hoggin’ of the dead guys allowed.”

Coredelia smirked and cast an arch look at her ex-lover.

“Just don’t get dead and try not to whimper too much Zeppo.”

Xander laughed and treated Cordy to a flash of amused black eyes

“I don’t whimper anymore Cordy. I merely use a very high pitched and manly battle cry.”

Cordelia grinned back at him and then spun without warning and placed a hard kick to the chest of the nearest vamp sending him flying back into the wall of the alley. 

“Prove it.”

She dove after her quarry past the rest of the shell-shocked vamps and Buffy who stood in slack jawed admiration of the precision of the kick.

“Damn she’s good. Last one covered in vamp dust is a rotten egg!”

She moved forward and with a beautifully timed jump kicked two vamps in the face before landing again square on top of one of her victims. Xander laughed and with a renewed burst of exuberance followed the two girls with a high somersault and scissor kick slamming the last vamp standing to the floor. 

Willow rolled her eyes and took Mia’s arm to lead her to the side of the alley where she could watch in safety from the shadows.

“Sorry hon, I would stay with but I really should test how well this whole transfer of the power thing worked out.” 

She tossed a quick look over her shoulder but not before Mia caught the look of barely suppressed excitement at the prospect of testing her new slayer powers. The young girl suppressed her own grateful shudder that she would not be expected to fight and nodded

“Go on. It’s cool.”

Willow gave another apologetic grin and then ran to Buffy’s aid who as usual had taken on the lion’s share of the slayage. She exchanged a quick smile with her friend as she tapped the taller of the two vamps on the shoulder and as he turned punched him squarely on the nose. Buffy laughed at the expression of amazement on Willow’s face as the dead man flew back and crashed into the ground ten foot away.

“Go Will!”

“So this what it’s like to be you.”

Buffy grinned and casually backhanded her remaining vampire into the wall

“Fun huh?”

Willow followed her victim and hauled him up with a giggle 

“Oh yeah!”

The four settled quickly to their work and Dawn watched as she moved up to join Mia

“You ok?”

Mia glanced at the tall serious girl beside her

  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Buffy stared in confusion at the cross bolt hovering inches away from her nose and then did the only thing she could and kicked up with all her might between the man’s legs. She was aware of Mia’s scream in the background as she came under attack but was powerless to help when as soon as she regained her feet she went down again under a pile of bodies. She impatiently swept away the man lying on one of her arms and then threw back her head and yelled

“Spike protect the Slayer!”

She dimly registered his answering yell and then her head snapped to the side as she took a powerful blow to the face and she just concentrated on getting herself the hell off the floor.

Spike was incandescent with rage as he went down beneath the human that attacked him and he saw Buffy hit the floor beneath at least four others. He heard Mia scream as he landed and with a quick twist of his wiry body he threw his attacker to the side and sprung up only to hear Buffy’s desperate scream to protect Mia. He raced to the young girl’s side and without pausing dragged the young girl out from underneath the two men pinning her to the floor and threw her out the door

“Find Angel!”

He saw a brief glimpse of her terrified face and then she was off and running screaming for the others. He whirled and saw that Buffy lay on the floor with what seemed to be at least ten men on her and yet still the mound writhed and heaved as she fought to get free. He neatly sidestepped another rush from an attacker and tried to think of a way to help Buffy without setting his chip off. His gaze fell on an old fire extinguisher clipped to the wall and then he was in motion leaping over another two screaming men to reach his goal. He snarled as he heard Buffy give a strangled cry and then the can was in his hand and he spun flicking the safety release and letting fly with the off white foul smelling contents. 

Outraged cries came as the gunk hit them and then they were clawing at their eyes and Buffy was free. She turned to Spike and then watched in amazement as he yelled and dropped to his knees clutching his head and then ran to place herself squarely in front of him as the chip really kicked in. The humans that hadn’t been sprayed by Spike moved around their stricken colleagues and moved in and just as Buffy coiled to spring at them seven angry bodies burst through the open door.

Angel took one look at the wailing humans on the floor, the sticky Slayer and the heavily armed men facing her and snapped 

“Spread out and don’t kill anyone unless you have to.”

The others moved past him grimly and then moved to defend Buffy and Spike. Buff took a quick inventory of the battle that had suddenly swung in her favour and then crouched down by Spike and pulled his head into her lap. She bit her lip as he moaned and gently stroked a hand down the side of his face

“Spike are you ok?”

Her eyebrows shot up at the vicious and unnecessarily graphic expletives that poured from his lips and then she grinned as his eyes came open and he glared up at her

“Did I get them?”

“Oh you got ‘em alright. Right between the eyes.”

Spike swore again and then allowed his eyes to drift close with the pleasure of her touch

“That explains the small nuclear reaction in my head then.”

Buffy frowned and continued to stroke him tangling her fingers lightly in his hair

“Still that bad huh?”

Spike opened his eyes again and stared up at her surprised by the empathy and sorrow he saw in her eyes

“No worse than it used to be. I’ve had a lot of time to only hurt demons and a lot of time to practise being civil to humans. It hasn’t gone off in years.”

He moved his head away from her fingers and wincing managed to drag himself up into a sitting position and missed the flash of hurt in Buffy’s eyes as he pulled away from her. Buffy stood up and focused on Xander as he made short work of the last remaining enemy soldier and then suddenly everything was silent. She reached down a hand for Spike and then when he stood beside her stalked forward and poked the leader in the chest

“Ok bow and arrow boy start talking. What the hell is going on here and why the hell are you attacking other humans?”

The man drew himself up to his impressive full height of six feet and spat

“You are not human. You are an abomination and you must be sent back.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down

“Oh yeah? Speaking as someone who isn’t in danger of having their neck snapped as opposed to someone who is you might want to be a little more careful with the name calling. Think about it.”

She glanced over her shoulder as Cordelia tutted and strode up to join her

“Buffy that’s no way to speak to a prisoner of war.”

Buffy looked confused and opened her mouth to reply but Cordelia beat her to the punch and lifted the man off the floor by his throat and calmly stared into his eyes as she said

“Tell her everything she wants to know and then some or I will squash you like a bug and tie the rest of your squad out and invite all the demons in the vicinity to an all you can eat buffet.”

She lowered the man until his feet brushed the floor and brought his slightly purple face towards her

“Do we understand each other?”

She turned her head to the side as the man spluttered and spittle flew from his lips and then when he gave a jerky nod dropped him to the floor and stepped back

“ _ That’s _ how you speak to a prisoner of war.”

Buffy stared at her friend and then gave a small shrug and turned back to the wheezing man by her feet

“Spill it or I let her have you.”

The man pushed himself to his knees and glared up at her through streaming eyes

“I am ready for death. Your threats will not work devil.”

Buffy shrugged 

“Ok Cordy, they’re all yours.”

Giles moved hastily forward

“Buffy really! Is this necessary?”

The man on the floor staggered to his feet and away from the watcher

“You! You were one of us how could you let this happen?”

Giles blinked and stared at the man his thoughts racing and then it came to him

“You…you’re all watchers?”

He stared in amazement at the bodies heaped up on the floor and then at the man in front of him and then his face darkened with anger

“You call yourselves watchers and you attack the Chosen One? How dare you?”

Buffy made to grab his arm as he stormed past her but he shook her off and continued until he slammed the man up against the wall

“How  _ dare  _ you?”

He repeated the question in a voice filled with dark fury and Buffy and Cordelia exchanged a quick glance and moved forward to each take an arm and drag him back. He struggled briefly and then stood shaking with rage between the two girls. Buffy rubbed one small hand on his arm and said in a low voice

“Giles it’s alright. Calm down.”

The man stared down at the girl with who he had chosen to link with for all eternity and for a moment he saw her again as she had been at sixteen with the whole world at her feet and then he turned and glared at the shaking man before him

“No Buffy, it most certainly isn’t.”

Cordelia redoubled her grip on his arm 

“Giles now is not the time to go all enraged guardian on us. Get a grip we need answers not brains all over the wall.”

She stared up at him and then slowly felt some of the tension drain from him 

“Of course. Quite right. I apologise.”

He moved backwards slowly not taking his eyes from the man before him and Spike and Angel moved to take up posts on either side of him in the event of another meltdown.

Buffy watched him for a moment and then turned back to face the captured Watcher

“Last time I checked we were on the same side. What’s with the whole kill ‘em all deal you guys got going? Cos I gotta say, really not making you any friends here.”

“I will not betray my people.”

“Oh please, what are we in the nineteenth century? Get a life.”

She stepped back and glanced around the room and her eyes fell on Mia huddling by Willow shivering with reaction to the attack. Willow had her arm around the girl’s shoulder and was rubbing her back with the other hand whispering in her ear. When she caught Buffy’s eye she gave her a despairing look and cuddled the girl closer, Buffy walked slowly across to them and drew Mia from Willow’s arms into her own. She frowned as the girl trembled and gave a small moan and held her more firmly against her squashing her own misgivings at the reactions of the fearful child and then Spike was there smoothing a hand over Mia’s hair and murmuring reassuringly to her as he helped Buffy walk her over to the Watcher.

Buffy met the man’s eyes and blocked the fierce shivering of the young girl from her mind

“Is she what you came for?”

Mia moaned and the Watcher stared at her in disgust as she burrowed closer to Buffy and Spike. 

“She is unworthy. She has shared her power with the undead and she has forsaken her sacred duty. She must be destroyed so that another might live.”

Buffy’s eyes hardened until they resembled two chips of ice and she stared into the man’s eyes as Mia began to sob helplessly, the watcher continued

“You will give her to us and she will fulfil her destiny and her sacred duty.”

Spike opened his mouth to say exactly what he thought of that plan but Buffy held up a hand for silence

“Ok.”

The room echoed with the shouts of protests from her friends and Mia’s terrified cries. Buffy’s head snapped round 

“Quiet.”

When the room was silent once again save for Mia’s terrified sobs she turned and stared back at the Watcher

“You can take her. I won’t stop you and I’ll make sure that my people don’t either but you have to win her.”

The man frowned in confusion

“I don’t understand.”

Buffy gave a predatory smile 

“Oh I think you understand just fine Jeeves. You and me. I lose you get the girl.”

The man snorted 

“Do I look that foolish to you? I would not live through the first minute.”

Buffy’s smile widened into a grin 

“Which is why I’m gonna let you and all your buddies attack me at the same time and let  _ you  _ be armed.”

She saw the man’s eyes widen in disbelief

“That’s right you all get to go in armed up to your asses and I go in bare handed. The one thing you can’t have is guns but for big scary ass guys like you that shouldn’t be a problem should it?”

She passed Mia to Spike and motioned him with her head to step back

“I’ll order the release of all your guys and you can all take me on for the girl. We’ll go out and we’ll do this right, in front of witnesses, and then we’ll see what worthy is.”

“How can I trust you?”

Buffy’s grin stretched again

“You can’t but I think it’s time that the world knew what a true Slayer is.”

She gestured behind her with one impatient hand

“That little girl isn’t a Slayer and she never was. You took her too young and despite your training and your coaching she wasn’t prepared for the power and the battle when it came.  _ I _ am a Slayer. The real deal. And you mister have no idea of the power of a Chosen One.”

She leaned forward until they were nearly nose to nose and said quietly

“But by God you’re about to find out.”

Half an hour later saw Buffy stretching carefully in a warm up eyeing the group of fifteen humans before her grimly. They were hung with so much weaponry that they nearly clanged when they walked and were torn between staring nervously at Buffy and the ring of resistance fighters surrounding them. The head of the rebels had stood pleading with Buffy for the last five minutes not to endanger herself in such a foolhardy way until Dawn had marched to her sister’s aid and dragged the man off by the ear. The dark haired Slayer had thrown the man into his generals and ignoring his angry outraged shouts had said calmly

“Watch and learn.”

Turning her back she had watched as Spike walked up to her sister and said something in a low voice to make her laugh and then smacked her butt in a friendly gesture as he walked off. Dawn grinned as Buffy flushed bright red and then hastily stared at the floor as Buffy glanced guiltily around to make sure no one had noticed her reaction. The blonde Slayer stripped off her grey sweats to reveal a sports bra and shorts underneath and then turned and faced her opponents

“So you know there’s no trick.”

She walked slowly forward and rocked forward on the balls of her feet grinning and shaking her head as Wesley anxiously shouted

“Remember they’re human Buffy you can’t kill them!”

Dawn grinned as Spike and Xander yelled together

“Screw that!”

“Slayer kill the buggers!”

And then Buffy moved.

She took down the first four with cold precision and cold fury and then when the remaining eleven stood grouped loosely around her clutching swords, axes and in one case she was amused to note a wooden stake she suddenly smiled and relaxed. Now the odds were more even she could begin to enjoy herself. Her spidey sense tingled as the man closest to her suddenly swung his broadsword and then she ducked and spun with a low kick to take his legs out from under him and send him crashing back into his companions. She bounced up and leaned back as an axe swung by her face and then with a sharp jab of her elbow she broke the owners nose and followed through with a clean jab to the jaw that took him out of the game.

Giles watched his Slayer pivot and move gracefully and couldn’t help feeling a small twinge of pride at the confident way she battled the Watchers. At no point did she lose her ground and even though she was still outnumbered ten to one she kept on the offensive and made the enemy dance to her tune. He switched his attentions to the Watchers and shook his head in disbelief at the clumsy and inexpert way they handled their weapons. These were a sacred order dedicated to protecting mankind and training and directing the Slayers and yet they had no more idea of how to use a sword or even a basic weapon like an axe with anything approaching finesse. He tutted and shook his head as one man made to whirl his heavy blade around his head and promptly fell over with the momentum of the swing.

“Not like that you bloody idiot! Find your balance and lunge not hack!”

Xander looked over at Giles’ shout and casually made his way to stand at the older man’s shoulder

“Um, Giles? You know that we’re on Buffy’s side right? No helping the enemy with the little pep talks?”

Giles glanced down and into Xander’s amused eyes

“Xander this isn’t a battle it’s a farce they have absolutely no clue what they’re doing out there!”

He glared in outrage as the man climbed to his feet and ignoring Giles’ outraged shout repeated his move and landed flat on his ass again.

“Idiot! Stand up and find another sword! Lunge and parry is that really so difficult?”

Xander glanced around and saw many of the human troops watching him and Giles with open mouths he grinned to himself and opened his mouth

“Hey evil Watcher guys! If you all rush her at once you could probably sit on her and cut her head off!”

He turned as he heard a giggle and saw Willow and Mia standing behind him, he moved to the side to allow them a clearer view of the action and then laughed as Buffy jumped into the air and placed on hand on someone’s head to swivel as she had done so often on the horse at the gym and took out two more men with a firm kick.

Mia stared 

“She’s amazing.”

Giles gave a proud smile and frowned slightly as Buffy flipped briskly along the floor and landed firmly on a broad, and slightly panicked, pair of Watcher shoulders. One quick blow to the side of the head and the man collapsed with Buffy rolling clear and taking the legs out from under another opponent without breaking her rhythm.

“She’s showing off! Buffy stop playing with them and finish this!”

He was sure he saw a pout form briefly in reaction to his testy order but she obligingly picked up the pace and in short order four out of the remaining five men were unconscious and she stood calmly with her foot on the ringleader’s throat as he writhed in the dirt. She stared around her in the shocked silence of the camp and then called

“Time Dawn?”

Dawn pulled her stopwatch out of her pocket and looked at the numbers she had frozen on her screen the second the last man had hit the ground

“One minute forty two!”

Buffy scowled 

“Are you sure?”

Dawn grinned at the put out tone of her sister’s voice

“Uh-huh.”

Buffy glared down at the man on the floor and said petulantly

“Damn I was going for one thirty.”

She shrugged 

“Oh well. I win you lose.”

She reached down and hauled him to his feet ignoring the loud groan that fell from his lips

“I’ll let you go but first I want some answers from you.”

She glanced around at the bodies lying on the floor all around her 

“Angel, Spike is anyone seriously hurt?”

The two vampires wandered out among the people on the floor shaking their heads. Spike grinned

“Well I’d say this here blokes pride is on its last legs but other than that no.”

Buffy returned his smile and raised her voice so she could be heard by the humans

“Get these people some medical care please and get them ready to leave in an hour. Slayers come with me.”

She stalked from the battleground dragging her captive behind her and laughed as she heard Xander’s voice behind her 

“Ok who got the closest to one fourty two?”

There was a brief pause and then Wesley’s excited voice replyed

“Me! I had one forty three!”

She heard the rustle of paper and then Wesley saying in a disappointed voice

“Ration bars?”

Buffy turned into the conference room and threw the man into a chair and turned to face her friends

“You ran a book on me?”

Xander ruffled her hair as he walked past her and grinned

“Cm’on Buff we were the only people in this whole sorry place that knew what a Slayer could really do. We cleaned up!”

She turned to Giles with an exasperated look on her face

“Did you know about this?”

Xander ignored Giles’ frantic shake of the head and laughed

“Know about it? Buff it was all his idea!”

“Giles!”

Buffy hid her smile as she saw him reach for the glasses on his face that were neither needed nor there and then he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I really don’t think we should be focusing on that at the moment!”

He blinked in annoyance as Spike began to sing lightly

“Giles is in trouble, Giles is in trouble!”


End file.
